Key RPA Contributions on Long Island
- RPA tried to discourage sprawl in the late 1940s through reports and advocacy efforts.
- RPA contested with Robert Moses over the preservation of Fire Island and his proposal for a bridge across the Long Island Sound.
- One of RPA’s greatest achievements in geographic Long Island was the creation of Gateway National Recreation Area, the first U.S. national park in an urban area.
RPA has always viewed Long Island as an integral component of the New York metropolitan region. The first Regional Plan of New York and Its Environs recommended an elaborate network of highways, railroads, and parks on Long Island, including what eventually became the Northern and Southern State Parkways.
![1928 General Plan of the Land Uses](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/First-Plan/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Land-Uses.jpg?bossToken=d273e208d42aca5092784f8b3bcf2cb05449bc70802e1d524a0b847692a99bfa 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/First-Plan/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Land-Uses.jpg?bossToken=e4bb977a9b869faa86793688215f24c21bc44c646053ea85d61cc2c158e64665 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/First-Plan/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Land-Uses.jpg?bossToken=e57fe88b98aaba0d6d7a1f848629bf9b2cb1c6e53e60fbdefb025263d28af38b 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/First-Plan/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Land-Uses.jpg?bossToken=785d627cab3b10f67eed1fdca7bebb913a7dd9490748ebb7e696554fd38940e7 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/First-Plan/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Land-Uses.jpg?bossToken=1c1d1a66498dbaa1657b509c4282a3e9446c82b7919af776b05dc0862c80f1fc 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/First-Plan/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Land-Uses.jpg?bossToken=f3d2b65501d280b7abff319d5936a30efa04f3d1bc81fed2ab43461d5b8f3c20 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/First-Plan/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Land-Uses.jpg?bossToken=03c6a65104be17b8a2cafa0a69383586645e0753660db431165dd3fe8a64742d 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/First-Plan/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Land-Uses.jpg?bossToken=3089e9181f153432a6aaf85647123200d87742c814d029c02a47734dacbcf0ea 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/work/Reports/Archive-Featured-Reports/First-Plan/1928-General-Plan-of-the-Land-Uses.jpg?bossToken=c35f469199f9b520a568c6621f9a57c8fd04735a4e84634d5a2b839c2bf75519 1543w)
![LI Parks RPA Plan1 v1 Page 406](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/LI-Parks-RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_406.png?bossToken=f0758e0630df1be846f9532ef87f35a88f96767bb0b1c46e3b388c004f831a7f 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/LI-Parks-RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_406.png?bossToken=65230473ae1e7d1eaae9c15a440952e9b01309b7cabf19eb9f6d98dde6578525 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/LI-Parks-RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_406.png?bossToken=8e3f1126249981e73d69ca5868d5f5e0a2cadc1e6788892db09396617ec407c4 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/LI-Parks-RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_406.png?bossToken=351d01062fafd232c5a53c8424624a033f81cfa660d564c558642e73b7612a48 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/LI-Parks-RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_406.png?bossToken=7b17dc2e5408a4f8cd383ed4010f450361ac82848e991a8c6d7125f83fc3fd02 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/LI-Parks-RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_406.png?bossToken=61a88fc5bb4a68ac9162261573a21e7eaa1ef2e69ed5b3aa800ce557889469a9 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/LI-Parks-RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_406.png?bossToken=91f447c1cb3c5dfcc68fbbc16046c2906854d2527163fed106e40128b05b8bef 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/LI-Parks-RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_406.png?bossToken=76a1b62739f61153e8e4da950c27142820ad0fa458bc9a14c2001f1600c8a293 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/LI-Parks-RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_406.png?bossToken=1d9faaf0e38ab29ffe23fe545d1af806be5833b3b705db0df07cb6b5f718d5a8 1543w)
First Regional Plan
Dozens of representatives from Long Island attended the unveiling of the Regional Plan in 1929, including the Nassau County Farm and Home Bureau Association, the Suffolk County Taxpayers’ Association, the North and South Shore Chapters of the Long Island Real Estate Boards, the Beechhurst’s Women’s Club, and town and village governments including Babylon, Cove Neck, Hempstead, and Long Beach.
Several of RPA’s early Board members had residences in Long Island. One of the first women on RPA’s Board was Harriet Barnes Pratt, who joined in the 1930s. Harriet was married to Harold Pratt and Frederic Pratt, Harriet’s brother-in-law, was one of the original RPA Board members according to RPA’s incorporation paperwork as well as the President of the Board of Pratt Institute. Harriet was an influential figure in her own right - she led the City Planning Commission in Glen Cove, was a Board member of the Horticultural Society of New York and the New York Botanical Garden, and worked on the 1939 World’s Fair with George McAneny, RPA’s president in the 1930s. Her family’s estate is now a public nature preserve.
The first Regional Plan had an interesting take on estates like the Pratt’s. Towards the end of the Plan, there is a section entitled “Adaptability of Areas for Country Estates,” which says that portions of Nassau County such as the Wheatley Hills section should be reserved for such purposes in order to provide private parks for nearby residents to enjoy from afar and preserve open space for the long-term, with some caveats.
![RPA Plan1 v1 Page 378 LI](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_378_LI.jpg?bossToken=7adc6e8d581ea5f55b2c1fcafda575ea7d1175b107a4f902ce0c69e317c5e0b1 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_378_LI.jpg?bossToken=37692f8192f06f4199c4a8b3adf048723f13f9589786649a287611d5ba8bc961 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_378_LI.jpg?bossToken=43176a1abbad352614ababbadd8469f485024894bc7a89ecd561905fcfb8560b 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_378_LI.jpg?bossToken=50eb254586907bf9badf5d33dd0a0537ce0eec84dec5216d28592c539d7360e6 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_378_LI.jpg?bossToken=178a6f110f95a9d245d15476acde3743a62a9273085251cf17b2dac28308457b 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_378_LI.jpg?bossToken=35e1fe0a64c2997a202d6a530e472b40a5a7ae5ced2cac06dc9bccdb27aa5dd6 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_378_LI.jpg?bossToken=c2e5aef9dd6423a703f0401da8de89d7959aba3a7592c94b1f7e346ce2677c50 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_378_LI.jpg?bossToken=0bdd92d5bfb9cd3009519b7b818b705129928484efa2c31462e5c491ff395569 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/RPA_Plan1_v1_Page_378_LI.jpg?bossToken=3a7f612248c7e6d735ac4ac6bfd646f110942ae76f54b077288ff54711fe1279 1543w)
Much progress was made on the first Regional Plan’s recommendations in the 1930s. Within four years of the plan’s publication, RPA noted that the Long Island State Park Commission had added 9,500 acres to its holdings, and that the park acreage in Nassau County had doubled. RPA also hailed the decision of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to create a Tri-State Treaty Commission to reduce pollution in harbor and coastal waters.
Many details about RPA’s work in Long Island after the 1930s come from the oral history of C. McKim Norton, an RPA President who was interviewed in 1980. According to Norton, RPA staff were surprised by the relentless pace of development in Long Island in the late 1940s. Much agricultural land was repurposed, and C. McKim Norton said it was a strategic error on RPA’s part to not fight harder to protect farmland, which could’ve checked development. As it was, RPA was unable to make headway against sprawl. Norton explained:
“What happened was that after World War II, instead of having a depression, we had a boom. Everybody was expecting a post-war depression. And the boom took the form of a lot of government-assisted housing in suburban areas. This is the VA-FHA boom. And a lot of people came pouring out of the Bronx in six-story apartments and older parts of Brooklyn and found their dream house out in Levittown, Long Island… But there was no relation between the sub-divisions. There was no shopping involved with it. That is, they didn’t build neighborhood units. They simply built houses in clusters, sub-divisions, and then they ribboned shopping on the streets. And this is why I was out talking with the Levitts, because we were always trying to stop this, but you never could get anywhere with it. We had all the planning books and planning instincts, but we couldn’t put it over, and we got run out of Long Island, almost literally run out. People were very unfriendly when we came in preaching the neighborhood unit gospel.”
In Long Island, all you need is a bulldozer and a banker and you’ve got a house.”
Long Island's population boomed during the post-war era
![](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rpa-org/general/Centennial-images/Population-Changes-1940-1950.png)
![](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rpa-org/general/Centennial-images/Population-Changes-1950-1954.png)
Images from RPA report: Population, 1954-1975 in the New Jersey-New York-Connecticut Metropolitan Region
RPA identified land that should not be built on - steep slopes, marshes, and soils of high agricultural value - and advocated for comprehensive community planning. It continued to discourage sprawl in a 1962 study and in the Second Regional Plan, and lamented the racially segregated nature of these developments in its 1979 report, Segregation and Opportunity in the Region’s Housing. RPA flagged that taking income into account, Black residents were “substantially underrepresented” in Nassau and Suffolk counties in absolute numbers, and at the census tract scale, Black residents were underrepresented in the southern half of Long Island extending to Brookhaven.
![2rp Long Island reports](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/2rp_Long-Island-reports.png?bossToken=87ff3d8cdd65dc0d85d79a52574d27fca1e8022b7c0f26a1f9dbef1d1eac32f9 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/2rp_Long-Island-reports.png?bossToken=5275743c62804859b97d8142e911c7c17a963219c20015c4890641a3bfd510e9 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/2rp_Long-Island-reports.png?bossToken=2801dc42a4400b6684753fc45b863e4b23fd6eb30768adb1ca5f707cc176f926 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/2rp_Long-Island-reports.png?bossToken=95d5b3bc0ce36b90c90899529a2a8fc7db7341a4fcd6e3ceccfe22d667e035a1 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/2rp_Long-Island-reports.png?bossToken=cd26649ed64b93e1fc4b76713be4d644ea8812b83eb9fd99313a741daeacf139 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/2rp_Long-Island-reports.png?bossToken=86cb1ac40df51b338e71299d2de3f494fe6dd3228338abf0e21728ac852d5585 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/2rp_Long-Island-reports.png?bossToken=15ea7fe872dec62a39985d73b2228e0cad72c7e0ed0b11afda9addb392197055 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/2rp_Long-Island-reports.png?bossToken=8be12282dfd94109b9de2af49069fce1f29bea1e7ba1ae7c52d19c763894d2e6 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/2rp_Long-Island-reports.png?bossToken=e592355c01ba42b62ae991336316933c659fb68ea4ead97297bf2866a0a398f8 1543w)
It was during this time period, in the 1960s and 1970s, that RPA embarked on its largest environmental advocacy campaigns in Long Island. RPA’s seminal 1960 report The Race for Open Space set off a new wave of park acquisitions in Long Island, including Fire Island, Lloyd Neck, and Moriches Inlet. The Race for Open Space was also cited in the introduction of the first federal aid for open space.
RPA contested with Robert Moses over the preservation of Fire Island. RPA President C. McKim Norton reflected on the advocacy campaign, noting that RPA was just “another little feather on the scale” and that it was truly due to local pressure that Moses’s plans for a causeway on Fire Island were axed.
“A hearing was held on it on a hot summer day at Jones Beach in a little meeting room that I didn’t know existed there at an awkward time of year and a long way to go on a working day, but we went down. I went down with Otto Nelson, the Vice President of New York Life, who had been the chairman of our Open Space Committee, as I remember, and was an active officer of the Regional Plan Association. To Bob Moses’s surprise, the room was packed with people, and it turned out that there were quite a few people from Fire Island who had come down. Half of them were in bathing suits and it was a pretty raggedy crowd, but quite vocal; and Otto Nelson and I were sort of lost in the shuffle, but we finally had our say. Bob Moses was so surprised and angered by this that he withdrew from the platform and sat in a little room behind the stage. It just happened that I was pushed to the side so far that I could see through the door into this room where he was sitting. There was just a table in there and a chair or two, and he was sitting and swinging his knee violently, irritated, while this meeting went on, and one of his deputies held the hearing.”
![Anti Moses Ad 1960s Fire Island News](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/work/Anti-Moses-Ad-1960s-Fire-Island-News.jpg?bossToken=385eed6d2f2c8b28005cadb6c6bba2ac547f5d4704dd0fc20af61b2ee5049c1f 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/work/Anti-Moses-Ad-1960s-Fire-Island-News.jpg?bossToken=c27f53037dacb3f5cd1870d71ce5315eb8a4d9cdff8d2925424e0b343bfacc69 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/work/Anti-Moses-Ad-1960s-Fire-Island-News.jpg?bossToken=2d895693015ce0150860de3ade095d82e9afb3066941cbc1afa94436f04f140b 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/work/Anti-Moses-Ad-1960s-Fire-Island-News.jpg?bossToken=99c387aca61798789b42e6bc641ec3a1232e0df258a424647ca86c677ef57783 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/work/Anti-Moses-Ad-1960s-Fire-Island-News.jpg?bossToken=54092ee05a5d7f3e98a9bfb5adefa7eb9e5b31c83e9a1a8c4372fb35f13115f7 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/work/Anti-Moses-Ad-1960s-Fire-Island-News.jpg?bossToken=c554973b93cecc57fd3fc113a0c14f6c40ee402962157643e9db33066f6d0d3a 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/work/Anti-Moses-Ad-1960s-Fire-Island-News.jpg?bossToken=6bb467ad0651e84a7272f4ac77903c334d3180d055979d52c955c4fbb52c089f 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/work/Anti-Moses-Ad-1960s-Fire-Island-News.jpg?bossToken=9b5170a2603e265a84f33936b682065aa700699174ef59a466972d04c855aa06 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/work/Anti-Moses-Ad-1960s-Fire-Island-News.jpg?bossToken=9695eb95c02d6a1f72c2ea6378da3ef767b360925efaff27f52c86ab2b6db322 1543w)
To protect open space in the region, RPA fought against Robert Moses’s plans to extend Ocean Parkway through Fire Island and to build a bridge across the Long Island Sound.
Fire Island News, early 1960s.
RPA battled Moses again over his proposal for a bridge across the Long Island Sound in the 1970s. In the first Regional Plan, RPA proposed a ferry route between Rye and Oyster Bay. Robert Moses proposed a causeway with several bridge spans, which would have tied in with the Cross Westchester Expressway. C. McKim Norton recalled in his interview that, as a sailor, he hated the idea of the Long Island Sound being hemmed in by infrastructure, but that he and the staff members recognized the more salient argument that a bridge would induce more sprawl in the region.
“So our argument was that this bridge was only wholly justified because of the added traffic it would induce. In other words, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, so to speak, and we quoted a lot of damaging evidence like this right from their own reports. All this came in at the very end of this controversy. Other people had fought it, but I think we put a little straw on the scale of an egg-headed argument, a broader regional argument, plus the revelation that this bridge was not necessary really, that it was a scheme.”
The plan for the bridge fell apart as Robert Moses’s power waned and the Connecticut element of the Tri-State Planning Commission did not approve it.
![1972 gateway brochure Cover](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/general/Timeline/1972_gateway_brochureCover.jpg?bossToken=17c9526ff0c82e0c5de7058f8a781def5b15b6eaeb867521325790802bcf85cb 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/general/Timeline/1972_gateway_brochureCover.jpg?bossToken=c29b38824d7a765698db4ebfcef9d7a7d6e11e15f0447a9c24aae158a8f2e493 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/general/Timeline/1972_gateway_brochureCover.jpg?bossToken=4463a8771b64f0efa75eedc4127cb134338ab80140731cf7320638965cc641a4 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/general/Timeline/1972_gateway_brochureCover.jpg?bossToken=357863be43338c7e81fc12b4d5f3fe7845ccf29e7bcae57127b49057309160d3 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/general/Timeline/1972_gateway_brochureCover.jpg?bossToken=924f24ea3e270f2382492759527743791b654a1dbd9f8c294c3948fb9caf2366 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/general/Timeline/1972_gateway_brochureCover.jpg?bossToken=d05f59ce7dacd70e8c6f512210cae8a8a99d249105ebc4590a9ce0bcdad4346c 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/general/Timeline/1972_gateway_brochureCover.jpg?bossToken=54917ba7c8783d52c1563de887542d54fa48b50b847c6a5e8ec991eb7c9f9f04 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/general/Timeline/1972_gateway_brochureCover.jpg?bossToken=247b5482d64bbcee9ede538617099f1852e7d9b5e77ae732986e78a3f75df241 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/general/Timeline/1972_gateway_brochureCover.jpg?bossToken=680818457d3b0e9416e310881419cfd4f4eba01b084162d748edf644fa0128e6 1543w)
The Creation of Gateway National Recreation Area
One of RPA’s greatest achievements in geographic Long Island was the creation of Gateway National Recreation Area, the first U.S. national park in an urban area. Gateway stretches across Jamaica Bay, the eastern shore of Staten Island, and Sandy Hook off the coast of New Jersey. The project also preserved Breezy Point, the last open oceanfront in New York City
National Parks Service
Breezy Point is also arguably RPA’s oldest park initiative. The idea of Breezy Point and the Gateway National Recreation Area actually originated in a Hyland Committee Report on parks around 1920 that RPA President George McAneny and Charles Dyer Norton, Chairman of Committee on the Plan of New York and its Environs, were involved with.
![National Parks Service breezy Point Map](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/National-Parks-Service_breezy-Point-Map.jpg?bossToken=bf32ac589620fa3764bada760f10edd086ee8aa51b842acf7e1045d621275f8a 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/National-Parks-Service_breezy-Point-Map.jpg?bossToken=a89b94211ef52b01c6322c3edb62c5af803bc6e98840e391e220d5779b08cf35 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/National-Parks-Service_breezy-Point-Map.jpg?bossToken=e971125d580a4d4d8c9ed4d32ffe55fdeb938ddf0d6e86a1acb4fc4a813ee709 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/National-Parks-Service_breezy-Point-Map.jpg?bossToken=dc4f535f849ce2025079429a3474fd6cf54072e762f4d03cf5f618ad1e68b8cd 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/National-Parks-Service_breezy-Point-Map.jpg?bossToken=c7b98469d63b3581d57f96fb7828d968b5289094c56eb53459ce84d72572dc1b 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/National-Parks-Service_breezy-Point-Map.jpg?bossToken=e07dcbc638fb1718432d3928b41ce94c789891743ff643486466c499dd6b74ed 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/National-Parks-Service_breezy-Point-Map.jpg?bossToken=4b9b81491fcf9723b823b59e4afb70da09c7adea788397581f039fda6bb55140 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/National-Parks-Service_breezy-Point-Map.jpg?bossToken=334367ea82c1ed2babca7ec760dead987fcaac227bede738b5dc81453bdb7352 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/National-Parks-Service_breezy-Point-Map.jpg?bossToken=9b64a6bcb2c0bf1d02a9961d9e43b100314c93480dcc9bbee4d5d608781561f9 1543w)
Breezy Point Park
RPA Planning Director Stanley Tankel was instrumental in the park’s creation, championing the Breezy Point project for many years. In his memos and letters, C. McKim Norton credits Stanley with convincing him and the others at RPA to undertake the advocacy campaign. Unfortunately, Stanley did not live to see the park created; he died in 1968, at the age of 45. C. McKim Norton shared in his 1980 interview that the Federal Government recognized Stanley’s contributions. “He was a real spark plug of that, and one of the nicest things that’s happened in my life is that the Federal Government has seen fit to call a little piece of that beach Tankel Breach, which is a most unusual thing to do. It’s really great.” A 1979 report from the National Parks Service included Tankel Beach on a map.
National Parks Service
RPA continued its environmental advocacy in its Third Regional Plan, which proposed eleven regional preserves, including the Long Island Pine Barrens and the Long Island Sound, as well as a network of greenways
RPA’s transportation proposals have been as fundamental to our history in Long Island as our environmental advocacy. From the first highway and rail maps in the 1920s, RPA has been invested in the development of the transportation network. Members of the Committee on the Plan of New York and Its Environs advocated successfully for the creation of two parkways and two “heavy-duty highways” on Long Island. In 1983, RPA and the Long Island Association released a joint report, Long Island Rail Issues, which argued for a gradual reorientation of LIRR operations to serve more of Long Island’s internal needs. Building off this work, in 2002, RPA prepared a report funded by the Rauch Foundation addressing a number of transit issues facing Long Island. RPA noted how to make LIRR more effective in carrying people between Nassau and Suffolk counties, pinpointing the absence of a third track between Jamaica and Hicksville.
RPA continued to advocate for a third track on LIRR’s mainline that would make it possible to operate“reverse” service on the Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma, and Montauk branches. As part of a broad coalition, RPA supported the MTA’s efforts to add this new capacity in the 2000s, an effort that was ultimately derailed by intense local opposition. However, the Rauch Foundation launched a campaign to revive the project with a report written by RPA in 2013, How the Long Island Rail Road Can Shape the Next Economy. RPA continued to support Rauch’s campaign, which ultimately succeeded and broke the political logjam.
![How LIRR Shapes economy](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/How-LIRR-Shapes-economy.png?bossToken=12a9c726d841eba9726910e5e2d30a2177e4197d34df3398d897eaf05f8cfc1c 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/How-LIRR-Shapes-economy.png?bossToken=240aacb299f2d5d6f90fbc2d537f8a22d892ff3c744dc927c983e0fb45260e2d 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/How-LIRR-Shapes-economy.png?bossToken=f313f30b54d1318591aaedf502fa93e4df0bb5987bf1aac763e92e4f88d066ef 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/How-LIRR-Shapes-economy.png?bossToken=c450aef71a2fde26f960599cd30f4d676646583d0175e0f55d6464af4a22440d 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/How-LIRR-Shapes-economy.png?bossToken=b7cd554d213b0e5c6eea840a5a74c0ce39329cf8e354ce75eaf26be0b78c48d1 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/How-LIRR-Shapes-economy.png?bossToken=515401dc5eb3abe9e4af1c421639bb21479e553b7bec646897a8a7bf5fcdaed2 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/How-LIRR-Shapes-economy.png?bossToken=c9b8989e83ce3171b3c20adb3c704a8384eeb1e002e77ce2c6674c6cf0d2c167 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/How-LIRR-Shapes-economy.png?bossToken=533e93a8d8ba4ef0f45580f12649e17b08a6cf8a49a34e5da62383623963a1f8 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/general/Centennial-images/How-LIRR-Shapes-economy.png?bossToken=d4f2a1227ddd5032abcc3e78346d7219cd6577d1993c5dadb78be6d62a1ab4fe 1543w)
In 2018, LIRR broke ground on the Long Island Rail Road Expansion Project, which includes 9.8 miles of a new third track from Floral Park to Hicksville, new power substations, and modernized infrastructure. The Third Track is set to be completed by 2022.
In addition to its advocacy around a regional rail network, RPA also supported transportation megaprojects that would benefit Long Island residents such as the East Side Access project connecting the LIRR to Grand Central. East Side Access was a key recommendation in RPA’s Third Regional Plan, which generated momentum that ultimately led to the project’s approval and construction. Construction of East Side Access started in 2007 and the project remains under construction, with completion slated for 2022.
RPA has continued this tradition of advocacy around public transportation, housing and neighborhood planning, and the environment in Long Island. Between 2002 and 2018, RPA authored several reports for the Rauch Foundation’s Long Island Index initiative. This project focused attention on problems ranging from the decline of Long Island’s young population to the segregation in its schools and neighborhoods. It also showed the potential for change, from the capacity for new homes in village and town centers to the ways that investments in the LIRR could boost Long Island’s economy.
In a 2013 report for the Long Island Community Foundation, RPA found that, more than any other part of the region, Long Island had far fewer rental homes and was building the fewest townhouses and apartments. Hurricane Sandy revealed how scarce rental apartments were as thousands of suddenly homeless residents had nowhere to go. RPA warned that the shortage of affordable rental homes was straining Long Island’s economy and would make it much harder for the area to compete for jobs in the years ahead.
RPA has also maintained a focus on Long Island’s environment, producing action plans for specific areas, promoting greenways, drawing attention to the threat of sea level rise, and analyzing how to deploy buy-outs. In 2016, taking into account the latest scientific findings on climate change, RPA found that many of the major resilience policies, plans, and projects under development fell short of adequately addressing the long-term, existential threat of permanent flooding from sea level rise.
RPA featured Central Nassau County and the Inner Long Island Sound as flagship places in the Fourth Regional Plan, published in 2017.
Supported by the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency, RPA has worked on projects in Suffolk County since 2014, including within Amityville, West Babylon, Route 110, Ronkonkama and Holbrook, to foster transit-oriented development, diversify housing opportunities, and create safer, more walkable environments and downtowns. RPA has also advanced place-based strategies to prepare Long Island for the future’s innovation economy including the Hauppauge Industrial Park, Babylon Industrial Study, and the implementation of a workforce training center at Brentwood.
New Homes on Long Island
More recently, RPA published a set of fact sheets outlining how the New York State Accessory Homes Act (S4547, A4854) could help counties create new homes using their existing housing stock. Suffolk County could create more than 80,000 accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and Nassau County could create 92,000 - more than any other county that RPA analyzed.
![Be Neighbor flyer](https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/300x300/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/general/Centennial-images/Be-Neighbor-flyer.png?bossToken=02f6944c16594f140deb9aaa09674ef517fcab58278cb8e4d1bb8d3d8c99a895 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/600x600/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/general/Centennial-images/Be-Neighbor-flyer.png?bossToken=023303f40a9cec7230cff67acaecd655d750c5ff906df0666f55a44ea755d225 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/900x900/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/general/Centennial-images/Be-Neighbor-flyer.png?bossToken=80938787eb94894955e6a16fab77776f58393b1fcd3bd121238acd2a776a1389 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/1200x1200/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/general/Centennial-images/Be-Neighbor-flyer.png?bossToken=44619bfcd6ca874fc069a336ac5963da77394e342948f409b866327e0477b90a 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/1500x1500/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/general/Centennial-images/Be-Neighbor-flyer.png?bossToken=cd04ffaa06e643ac17819fca00cf4fc92eb14c306d926deffcc1c07cd37c872c 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/1800x1800/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/general/Centennial-images/Be-Neighbor-flyer.png?bossToken=77181d085f2abbb3f47753da7dc02d5c7ae2e56b1c89bc7b7a91a3bd74634b3e 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/2100x2100/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/general/Centennial-images/Be-Neighbor-flyer.png?bossToken=56370a5c792d979328bd540cb4cffcdec80705e3719af0a65b391c93962b4ebd 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/2400x2400/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/general/Centennial-images/Be-Neighbor-flyer.png?bossToken=e75937ae80c8b3849ef5dd143722a64f3689ca6446ba46883afe05b08f4fd295 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/cover/2700x2700/fp-x:0.5,fp-y:0.5,quality:80/general/Centennial-images/Be-Neighbor-flyer.png?bossToken=b1d2e8a8467305470a08cf2f0325bbd660cd0914e8bfb9874254b86055c22eb4 1543w)
Unfortunately, a gap in RPA’s planning work in Long Island has been its lack of sustained engagement with the original inhabitants, including the Unkechaug Nation and the Shinnecock Nation.
As RPA looks to its future, we hope to continue our research, planning, and advocacy in Long Island with all residents, both long-standing and new.
Related Reports
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